I'm finally on vacation!!

Jenn here - sitting at the aforementioned AM's 'puter (Thanks, AM!)

The trip was long and exhausting - I didn't sleep well, mostly for fear that I would oversleep and miss my flight. I NEVER sleep well before a trip, and last night was no exception.

Reagan was ontime to pick me up - thanks a ton, my friend! I owe you one! It takes someone pretty special to agree to take a friend to the airport at 5am on a Tuesday!!!

The flight was interesting - people watching was very amusing. The most amusing... well, the most obnoxious... was the couple that stood behind me in line and proceeded to break up while waiting to board!! No joke... she had just accused him of cheating (right before they got on line) and then stood behind me for 20 minutes arguing about it!! They actually ended up sitting apart on the flight - intentionally! They started out together and then separated during the flight. Very odd situation - and I pray that God would be with them and their friends and family as they work through this. It was nasty.

Maybe I'm OK with being single... (-;
(just kidding - I still think marriage is beautiful and I hope and pray that God will bless me in that way!)

Michelle's Gram is wonderful! I am so happy that I got the chance to meet her!! And I'm glad I got to see AM again (I met her when she brought CM out to LA awhile ago). It was really cool to meet CM and MUP - great people!! I just wish we had more time - I think we could spend a lot more time here!!

Tomorrow we head to Boston!!!! I expect to be greeted by name by everyone there - "Where everybody knows your name..." (=

It will be great to get to know Rachael better, since we have so many mutual friends. I've heard great things about this amazing woman, and I got a tease when she came to visit Pasadena a few weeks ago. Now, she'll get to be MY friend too - not just a friend of a friend. (=

OK - I'll wrap it up for tonight. I'm ridiculously happy to be back in this area. I clapped when I could see the city. I think I had surpressed how much I love and miss this place in order to remain happy in LA. I've learned to love LA for what it is.... but this is home, and I miss it and the people here.

Untill the 'morrow.

Picture of emotion

This is my mom fishing at the shore when she was, I dunno, 13?

These are the books my mom made when my bro and I were little - she is amazing - simply amazing

Hey - that kid is cute!!!! (yeah - you guessed it - it's me)

And this little guy is Ben! Baseball, obviously, is NOTHING new. I love you

So many emotions, not enough time...

This is Grammy at 18. This is my Grampa in the service and the plane he flew in WW2.

















This is so cool - my Gram on the left in the famous Hi-Hat Club in Daytona Beach Florida when on leave (her date was NOT Grampa!!!!!)





Jenn has arrived! We jsut had dinner with Gram and I now sit at AM's computer blogging and waiting for the first load of trip laundry to finish. Lots of things happened over the last couple nights that brought many emotions.
Emotion 1: gratefulness - found out the awesome trail that I found that was my little secret that I loved and couldn't wait to run on again was the site of three rapes in the last two weeks. Thank God I am safe.
E2: fear - got lost on the way home last night and wound up at the base of the huge ass smoke stacks that belong to the nuclear power plant in Limerick. Pitch black, eerie fog, spewign God only knows what into the air. I honestly thought I had stumbled upon Mordor.
E3: grief - looking at pictures last night made me miss my Grampa a lot. HE could be kind of a punk, but I miss the way he would call me ask me easy questions like, "Hey Micki - is the Old Testament true?" and "What is the sin that you commit against the Holy Spirit." Kept me on my toes for sure.
E4: amazement - my mother made all these actual storybooks about my brother's and my life (grammer??!!!) out of pictures and sent them to my Gram and Grandpa. She is probably the most creative woman I know. She enjoyed doing those things and my prayer for her is to have space for those things again - emotionally, financially and chronologically. I hope that creative fire never dies.
E5: competeness - being here and spending time alone with Mom's side of the fam - I really feel like I know my whole family. It brings great comfort and security.

There are more, but I want to share some pictures instead. Have to make a different post for it though so heads up.

Greek is complete!

I just got out of my Greek final - yes, it's 9:45am. I was actually finished by 9:15!! God is good... and Edmond was sweet - only 13 short translations!!

Anyway - the beauty of this is that I am now, almost, on vacation!!!! I'll leave for LAX @ 5am tomorrow - and most of the rest of today is devoted to packing and home stuff!!

Michelle - Wait for meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! (=

-j

More Pics

Gram loves trinketts, and if any of you have been in Michelle's room, you know she must have inherited it.Gram also is the passer-oner of Family Hot Fudge. All those who have tried it yell "Aye!" This traditional dessert staple has been the yummyness of many a Fuller party and is the only thing that points go to hell in a hand-basket for! May the pot on the stove live on forever!As I said before, Mass was beautiful. If you have time, please click on the pictures to see them larger. They will bless you. The altar:Reconciliation:CM's dinner (and MUP peeking!)
My new philosophy is, when someone wants a sip of your drink and there is only a bit left, "Sure! Nothing but spit left!" Thank you MUP. My venacular has once again been enriched.Gram and AMCM and methe whole kit n' caboodle

Pictures!

Cultural comentary: the line at Starbucks at 5:30am in LAX:










Is Grammy dead?













NO! Just laughing our fool heads off!
Here she is alive and awake and not so dead :)

And here she is at a younger time. Gram was in the Navy during WWII - she worked in the Air Traffic Control tower and was one of the original Navy W.A.V.E.S. To learn more about Navy W.A.V.E.S visit http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/prs-tpic/females/wave-ww2.htm

By the way, that super duper cute little girl on the left is Michelle's mom. Now I know where I get it from ;)

I suppose tired is good...

But when you are so tired that you head out of Grammy's house to use the internet at Aunt's house and forget the USB cord that allows you to download all the pictures you've been taking for the past two days - that is bad. SOOO - I will give verbal highlights and ya'll will just have to wait for such amusing moments as "Is Grammy dead?" and "Nothing but spit left!"

Arrived safe and sound as Jenn mentioned and arrived in Douglasville at around 6pm - a whole 30 minutes before I was scheduled. This, I think, made Grammy a bit nervous that I was driving too fast. Aunt Michelle (here on out known as AM) confirmed that if I was, as I stated, "going along with traffic", then, yes, I was driving too fast.

Last night hit the sack at 8:30pm and slept till the same hour in the morning today. By the way, it's pouring if you haven't had the mind to check out the weather ticker.

This morning was a beautiful and simple mass at St. Thomas More church on the outskirts of Pottstown. This is the Catholic church where AM, Cousin Matt (CM), and my Uncle Pete (MUP - for Michelle's Uncle Pete - needless to say, Jenn's Uncle Pete is JUP. That's funny.)
Actually MUP and I are Protestants. This means that we think the Eucharistic elements have the presence of Christ instead of being the actual blood and body - a term known as transubstantiation for those of you not at Fuller. I'm pretty sure it also means that we think pot-lucks are a good way to get a free lunch.

My lunch was NOT free, and AM- VERY GRACIOUSLY- bought me a delicious baked potato and steamed veggies (one of my favorite meals ever) at Red Lobster with CM, MUP and Gram in for the fun. Our waitperson, Sue, was the best waitperson I have ever had at a Red Lobster. We decided that the SoCal Red Lobster's don't have good service because there is little to no understanding of what it actually takes to catch lobsters, or any other type of sea life for that matter, and they make use of the ocean for surfing, not fishing. Not to mention the fact that, you know, the Maine wind carries the essence of lobster-catching all the way down to northern Deleware, where they have their own essence to feed off of. (What does "Derrigo" mean anyway? Fifty points to the person who posts the answer.)

After a great afternoon of Bergey-rules card games (these people are tricky I tell you!) and laugher and snacking (no- I did not go over points) I went for a run in beautiful Amity Park Township and came back to kind of a scary thing: Hurricane Katrina all over the news.

Friends, lets pray for the people that are being affected by this:
Lord, please be heavily present in the affected areas of the Hurricane. We know that your creation is strong and powerful, but we ask that you would calm this storm, keep people safe, and use the devestation to show your glory. In this time of uncertainty, we confirm your ability to turn what started out bad into something good - and if not good, then at least you can turn it into an opportunity for grace and peace. Amen.

Well, I am super tired and am looking forward to bed and looking at A LOT of pictures tommorow. I still have to drive back to Gram's. Pics to come!
'Till later loved ones! Tally ho!

Jenn's newly painted toes-ies!!

Like Michelle, Jenn still has many things to do - but the priorities are taken care off! Hair cut... check! Nails painted... check! Packing done... ummmm... yeah, about that... (=

She made it!

Michelle is safely in the rental car in Philly!! WooHoo!! Seafoam green Ford Focus...hmmm....
Freezing cold airplane and then 75 and rainy in Philly. Michelle is chilly...

Jenn is at home trying to pack and study - and not having much luck with either... blah.

Coming soon - Jenn's toes! (=

The Good News.... and the not-so-good news...

The good news is that we managed to wake up on-time this morning (well... Michelle managed to wake up on-time and got Jenn up)!!! Michelle is safely at LAX awaiting a 7:45am take-off. She should get to PHL by 4 this afternoon.

On a side note - who knew that you could actually drive the speed limit and a little more on the LA Freeways?!?! You just have to get up at 5am on a Saturday to do it! (=

The not-so-good news is that, although the vacation has begun for Michelle, Jenn still needs to finish her class before she can leave. So, although Jenn wants her vacation to have already begun, she must wait until - gasp! - Tuesday!!

Preparations are in order...

Less than 24 hours till Michelle heads out. Lots of things are not finished, but at least the toes look good.

Still Packing??? Oh mercy yes...

After several attempts to pack, and several re-packs, this is all the space I have left in my case! I still need to fit all my toliet-trees and two presents in there!!! Not to mention that I haven't even thought about what is going on the plane. I am so not good at this.

How am I going to fit this stuff???

I thought your room

was supposed to be CLEANER from packing all your stuff!!!!

Packing is not fun

OK: here is what it looked like two or so days ago:

All that stuff you see in the "back" of the picture is supposed to go in the suitcase you see in the "front" of the picture.

Yea, right.

The List...

(always pack too many unmentionables, you never know what might happen)










But wait...

there's more!!!!

YES!!!!!!

So its 3 days until Michelle is on a plane to visit her Gram, Aunts & Uncles, and friend Rachel. Only 6 days until Jenn is on a plane to join Michelle and they visit Jenn's Aunt and Uncle, friends & parents. YESSSS!

Here is the ever-able-to-change itinerary:

8/27:
Michelle LAX to PHL
8/28-30:
Michelle in Douglassville and Pottstown visiting Gram and Aunt Michelle, Uncle Pete & Cuz Matt
8/30:
Pick up Jenn at PHL (from LAX), spend the night with Michelle's Aunt Michelle (confused? Good!) Happy Birthday to Jenn's brother Matt, Michelle's Cousin Matt and Michelle's MOM!!! (yes, two Matts)
8/31:
Off to Boston to visit Rachel, see the Sox, see the BMOMA and MIT, amongst other things
9/4:
Head about 45 min east to Marlborough, Mass to stay with Michelle's Uncle Tom & Aunt Barb
9/5:
Leave for Cooperstown, NY and stay with Jenn's Aunt Cathy and Uncle Pete (no, that is not a mistake either- we both have Uncle Petes - don't worry - it gets SO much weirder).
Best part: Baseball Hall of Fame and horse back riding! YESSSSSSSSSS!
9/7:
Go back to Philly and kick-it with some of Jenn's peeps or Michelle's Aunt Michelle again - we'll see.
9/9:
On a plane PHL to MCO (Orlando!!) to visit Jenn's momma & pappa and DISNEY WORLD!!!!!!!
9/10:
Go to Night of Joy, a Xtian music festival where we will see such greats as CeCe Winans, Donnie McClurklen, Newsboys and Superchick.
check it out at: http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/parks/specialEventsDetail?id=NightofJoySpecialEventPage
9/13:
head on home MCO to LAX, where Chris will hopefully remember to pick us up (hint, hint)


We are SOOOOOO excited!!!

Who the H$%* are Jenn & Michelle?

Ok, so here are Jenn and Michelle. Jenn is the one who is not Michelle, and Michelle is the one who is not Jenn. We're guessing that if you are reading this blog that you must know one of us, so figuring out who we are not shouldn't be too difficult. Besides, we choose to know people that are witty, intelligent and attractive, like you. We are so blessed!